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RATING |
| 6 |
DIRECTOR |
| Jeremy Kasten |
CAST |
Jeremy Sisto
Adam Baldwin
Serena Scott Thomas
Clare Kramer
Matt Keeslar
Tom Lenk
Neal Jackson
Erik Palladino |
YEAR |
| 2006 |
RUNTIME |
| 88 minutes |
DATE REVIEWED |
| 5
/ 31 / 07 |
SHOPPING |
| BUY THIS FILM |
| REVIEWER: FrighT MasteR |
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RATE THIS MOVIE:
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RATED BY:
9 FAN(S) |
CURRENT RATING:
6.11 SKULL(S)
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The Thirst
The Thirst is the latest vampire flick to hit the DVD circuit from writer/director Jeremy Kasten (Attic Expeditions, All Souls Day), who attempts to offer something fairly different to the sub-genre by making vampirism into something similar to drug addiction -- at one point our two leads attempt to kick "the thirst" by not drinking any blood, and they go into some sort of withdrawal usually seen in drug addicts, but eventually succumb to it and end up feeding on a couple cats; but, I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. The movie's obvious main influence is from the classic Near Dark, where a "family" of vampires unwillingly recruit a new member, who essentially questions and compromises their existence. The vamps, like in Near Dark, have no fangs and are a group of interesting individuals, who each have their own characteristics. Sadly, the movie offers no real back-story to these bloodsuckers, so we're left to come up with our own conclusions.
For instance Jermey Sisto's character as the leader "Darius" throws about a number of different accents, sometimes going through three different ones in one sentence. Although interesting, we're given no background on his character, so we're to assume that he has lived so long that he unintentionally blurts out words and sentences in different accents. Though, his accents are so unconvincing and hard-to-follow that we're usually left just wondering what the hell he's trying to say. So the story basically follows Matt Keeslar's character, "Maxx", who's torn up over his girlfriend's (Clare Kramer) suicide after discovering she had cancer. It doesn't take long before a trip to a nearby BDSM club to find that a girl there looks dubiously similar to his recently deceased girlfriend. It turns out that she was recruited by a family of vampires, and they're in the business of going from club to club feeding on these Goth-heads
Maxx ends up a part of the group after his girlfriend turns him, and at first he likes his new found strength and energy, but the couple soon begin to question their existence as vamps and attempt to change their ways after they decide that they don't like the taste of human blood as much as the rest of the group. This of course doesn't work with the other members, so a battle between them ensues. The movie doesn't really offer much of what we haven't already seen, aside from the different angle of vampirism. They can still be killed by sunlight, but a lot of the mythos, involving crosses and so-forth don't apply. So what does the movie offer? Lots and lots of blood; buckets worth, in fact. That's pretty much the only reason to watch flick. The acting is also fairly decent, with a slightly above-average group of familiar faces.
The movie starts off pretty strong with the club massacre, with our characters breaking limbs, tearing out throats, and come out soaking in blood. Then more than half way, around the time our leads try to kick their habit, the pacing begins to suffer, and I have to admit that I lost a little interest. It starts to pick up again towards the end when the couple and rest of the vamps battle it out. Aside from the sometimes obvious low-budget, lack of character development, and slow-pacing during a few scenes, the movie is otherwise decent. It offers enough blood and gore to keep the average horror fan pleased. As far as vampire flicks go, this doesn't really make much of an mark in the sub-genre, but it at least gives us a reason to get into vampires again.
OVERALL
A decent film that offers enough blood and ripped-flesh to please the regular horror fan. It doesn't offer much in the sub-genre that we haven't already seen, but it does give us a slightly different angle on vampirism. Worth a rent for fans of the genre or blood aficionados, but don't expect a lot of character development.
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6/10